TSMC said that it would cut down its annual investment as the chipmaker expected a demand slump in 2023.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC) reported a bearish outlook for the first quarter despite reporting a 78% rise in the net profit for the quarter that ended December 2022.
In spite of the upbeat earnings, the Taiwanese chipmaker posted a weak forecast for the first-quarter revenue and said that it would cut down its annual investment amid slowing demand. TSMC warned that the revenue for Q1 would drop as much as 5%, in a range of $16.7 billion to $17.5 billion, compared with $17.57 billion a year earlier.
The world’s leading chipmaker will reduce spending in 2023 to $32 billion to $36 billion, compared to $36.3 billion in 2022.
TSMC’s chief executive officer C.C. Wei said, “We forecast the semiconductor cycle to bottom sometime in the first half and see a recovery in the second half 2023.” He added that the rebound would be boosted by new product launches such as artificial intelligence-enabled goods.
The company reported a record net profit of $9.72 billion (T$295.9 billion) from T$166.2 billion a year earlier. Revenue rose 26.7% to $19.93 billion, in line with the company’s earlier estimates in a range of $19.9 billion to $20.7 billion.
TSMC announced its plans to scale manufacturing outside Taiwan as Washington, Seoul and Beijing look to reduce their dependence on the chip manufacturer which contributes to 54% of the world’s semiconductor supply.
Last month, TSMC said it would more than triple its planned investment at its new Arizona plant to $40 billion, making this one of the largest foreign investments in US history. The Arizona fab will begin producing 4nm chips in 2024, followed by a second fab producing 3nm chips in 2026. The company is also building a chip plant in Japan and is in the early stages of reviewing a potential expansion into Germany.
